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US consumers more likely to moan about brands on Twitter: study

The US and UK are said to be two nations divided by a common language, and it seems they are also divided by a common social network.

A new study by 360i has found that Twitter usage patterns vary greatly between the two nations, particularly when looking at what time of day people are active on the network and how they engage with brands.

For example, Twitter users in the UK are more likely to be active in the late morning and early afternoon, specifically between 10am and 1pm, while in the US people tend to be most engaged after 6pm.

As part of the study 360i carried out a series of in-depth interviews, which revealed that US Twitter users feel they have more time in the evenings when they get home from work, and it is at this time that they begin tweeting about their day and start to get feedback from other users.

Twitter usage by time of day

The obvious implication for brands is that campaigns need to be tailored differently for each market to ensure that tweets reach the maximum possible audience.

While UK consumers are active on Twitter throughout the day, there is a heightened possibility to catch their eye around lunchtime with relevant content.

It also allows brands to enter into timely conversations with consumers, as people keep an eye on current events as the day unravels.

Brand conversations

The study also found that the motivations behind brand mentions tend to differ significantly between the US and UK.

Though brand mentions make up only a very small percentage of overall conversations on both sides of the Atlantic, in the UK people tend to mention companies when sharing a specific experience they’ve had, complete with their thoughts on quality and performance.

In comparison, US consumers are most likely to mention a brand if they’ve had a negative experience.

The report therefore suggests that marketers need to be aware of these differences when evaluating consumer sentiment online.

For example, in the US an overwhelming amount of negativity might point to an isolated issue, but may not be representative of larger consumer opinion.

In the UK, conversation may be more neutral and performance-focused, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers lack emotional connection to the product.

For more information on how businesses are currently tracking social conversations download our Managing and Measuring Social Report, which is based on a survey of more than 650 agency and client-side marketing professionals.

Type of tweets

Finally, the report shows that UK users are more likely to have conversations on Twitter and they prefer to share content they feel will be relevant to their followers, such as specific advice or timely, news-related content.

In contrast, US users are 82% more likely to re-tweet content and like to share their opinion about anything – even without being prompted.

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Following on from Andrew Warren-Payne’s post looking at various digital marketing campaigns from McDonald’s, I thought it would be interesting to take a similar look at one of the world’s biggest sport brands.

Nike has achieved a great deal of brand exposure from its excellent digital campaigns, particularly through social, and here are 10 of the best examples.

Once of the choice sound bites from a recent marketing conference stated that the emergence of social media “has made customer service a spectator sport.”

This is good news for the voyeurs among us, but it is obviously a headache for brands struggling to maintain their reputation and deal with complaints across an ever-increasing number of marketing channels.

And while keeping customers happy is a big challenge in itself, turning them into brand advocates that want to sing your praises is another problem entirely.

A new report from Social@Ogilvy shows that 15% of all brand mentions on social are advocacy mentions where the person expressed some positive comments about the brand.

However it should still make an interesting case study, particularly with its long list of brand ambassadors. This post follows on from similar blogs looking at brands such as McDonald’s, Nike, Burberry and Walmart.

So without further ado, here is a quick overview of how Pepsi use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+…

In just six short weeks, it’ll be time for the September Campaign, the biggest annual fundraiser from nonprofit charity:water.

What the organization does this year to raise money remains to be seen, but it’s worth looking back more closely at its efforts in 2012, when the charity took in more than $2m ($300,000 more than its original goal) largely through digital marketing.

That shouldn’t be a surprise: charity:water founder Scott Harrison told the New York Times last year that he “absolutely” attributes the organization’s success to the web.

July 18th 201321:41

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